Daily Medieval

Excerpt from the Taxatio; see the word "Census" upper-right Today is the birthday of  Pope Nicholas IV; you can read a brief ...

To Froissart she was "the most beautiful woman in all the realm of England, and the most loving"; in her own right she was the ...

The first part is here . Death of Harald Hardrada, illustration from Matthew Paris King Harold Godwinson of England, hearing th...

In the absence of historical photographs, I give you Lego Stamford Bridge ! In the competition for the throne resulting from the death ...

17th century knife and fork There is a point in the movie Becket (taken from the play of the same name by Jean Anouilh) that introdu...

The Virgin of Miracles The Virgin of Miracles is a statue in a monastery in Huelva, Spain.  It is 54 centimeters (21 inches) tall. By l...

The border separating England from Scotland almost became a little thicker last week, and this week is the anniversary of its creation, w...

St. Joseph of Cupertino levitating In the United States these days (and probably elsewhere in the world), the name Cupertino evokes the...

...is a big topic these days. Today, in fact, Scotland is voting whether to stay in the United Kingdom or strike out on its own. If it did,...

One example of the "white mantle of churches" So...the Venerable Bede suggests that time be reckoned since the year of Christ...

You would think that being named pope is the highest achievement for a man in that particular field, and that it comes with the power to ...

Charles the Simple Charles III, called "the Simple" (from Latin Carolus Simplex ) was a King of Francia (what we think of tod...

The Virgin Mary sits a-knitting in this 14th-century painting in Siena by Lorenzetti Naalbinding , a pre-knitting method of linking thr...

Naalbinding technique [ link ] Technically, today's post is not about knitting, but about an earlier technique with a similar resul...

Redvers Coat of Arms William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon, died 10 September 1217; he was born sometime before 1146, (the year his mot...

Statue of Olaf in Trondheim King Olaf Tryggvason is the subject of far more stories than we have facts to support them. (He was implica...

Artwork depicting the Statute of Kalisz Bolesław V the Pious (1224 - 1279) was (at different and overlapping times)  Duke of Greater P...

In the Book of Proverbs, we find "Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him; he r...

[ source ] The Mongols were expanding westward. Under Genghis Khan they had taken a huge chunk out of Asia, from what is now the Koreas...

Mamluk going to war, from a 14th century History of the Tatars The short answer to the question posed in the title is "slaves....

Tolkien in his study Time to break one of my rules and discuss a 20th century event. Today is the 41st anniversary of the death of J....

This is the story of a man who got everything he wanted...and possibly more than he deserved. Ralph de Stafford was born 24 September 1...

The Burghers of Calais, by Rodin The story of the Burghers of Calais is one of those that "everyone knows" and no one bothers...

Philippa of Hainault, finally becoming Queen of England Philippa of Hainault has been mentioned as a minor part of the story of the Bat...

Lower classes revolting against taxation and economic unfairness is as old as taxation itself. In 14th century France, a situation arose th...

The defeat of Eustace the Black at the Battle of Sandwich, from Matthew Paris Eustace Busket was born about 1170 near Boulogne on the n...

Icon of St. Genesius, commissioned by the Fraternity of St. Genesius There are several saints named Genesius in early Christian history...

Window at Cathedral of St. Michael in Veszprém, Hungary, where Gisela is buried Gisela (985 - 1065) was mentioned as the wife of King (...

A 19th century depiction of Geert Groote's Brethren of the Common Life In Latin he was called Gerardus Magnus, but when he was born...